Take heed and make haste, residents of New York City. You have little more than a week to file a concealed handgun carry permit application with the city police. After that, the road to successfully obtaining one becomes inestimably more difficult. File your application by August 31 because, after that, new state laws control the process, making it much more onerous.
Early this summer, the Supreme Court ruled New York's gun law was unconstitutional. The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision held that people generally have the right to carry firearms, subject to regulation. This was a sea change in the law, which previously did not protect the right to carry as fundamental. Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the 6-3 majority opinion in the case, said: "The Second Amendment's plain text thus presumptively guarantees petitioners … a right to ‘bear’ arms in public for self-defense."
Justice Thomas Speaks to N.Y.
According to SCOTUS, city fathers and state leaders could not prohibit people from carrying in the five boroughs through discriminatory licensing practices as they had been. Thomas wrote:
“[New York's] argument would in effect exempt cities from the Second Amendment and would eviscerate the general right to publicly carry arms for self-defense ... Put simply, there is no historical basis for New York to effectively declare the island of Manhattan a ‘sensitive place’ simply because it is crowded and protected generally by the New York City Police Department.”
In response to that decision, many states hostile to gun rights, including New York, have had to change their laws. New York Democrats, who control the state's government with supermajorities, enacted new gun laws in response. Somehow, despite the Supreme Court decision liberalizing carry rights, legislators managed to restrict carry evermore. While more people will be eligible to get a license in New York due to the Bruen decision, they will have many fewer places to carry. Also, costly and onerous training requirements will further redline the process, keeping especially poor and marginalized communities from accessing their rights.
New York started by effectively prohibiting carry in 20% of the entire state right off the bat by including Adirondack Park in the list of sensitive locations. Lawmakers also created an affirmative invitation requirement seemingly designed to prohibit carry in all but the most pro-gun establishments. The new law says businesses must announce on signs out front that they welcome armed customers. If you carry into a business without the sign on display, you're a felon. There is also an 18-hour training requirement with a live-fire range component.
These regulations do seem to run afoul of the Bruen decision.
Carry Permit Beat the Clock
The time to apply is now – until August 31, when the new state law takes effect. In the intervening days, Mayor Eric Adams has signed a rule requiring the issuance of a license based simply on the promise of training rather than the completion of an approved 18 hours. All those who keep and or carry guns should seek training and experience on their safe and effective handling. Still, the specific mandate runs afoul of Americans' rights as constitutionally guaranteed rather than granted by the government.
Adams' emergency rule went into effect on August 19 and lasts only until the 31st, when the new state laws go into effect. It says applicants must sign "[a] statement indicating that the applicant has been trained or will receive training in the use and safety of a handgun." That's certainly more reasonable than the onerous regulations coming in September. Procrastinators in the Big Apple may have to wait years while the courts sort out and settle challenges to training requirements allowed by the Bruen ruling.
